Joe is a spy not for another star-faring civilization but for the hidden native Nerthusians. They cannot make war against the whole Galaxy but they can blackmail concessions from the Galaxy by threatening its colonists on Nerthus. However, in the Psychotechnic History, Nerthus is a colony not of a Galaxy-wide civilization but of the human race which has only recently begun to explore nearby planetary systems.
Thus, "The Acolytes" and "The Green Thumb," together with "Star Ship," really belong to an alternative "Galactic civilization" series.
"The whole future of the planet Khazak, perhaps of the fabulous Galactic civilization itself, was balanced on the edge of a sword."
-Poul Anderson, "Star Ship" IN Anderson, The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 2 (Riverdale, NY, 2018), pp. 273-306 AT p. 282.
Nerthus and Stellamont exist in two series.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Again, I think it's simpler to think of the Psychotechnic series as Anderson's "trainer wheels" in writing connected stories comprising a "future history." Which helps to make sense of the inconsistencies you are finding. The experience gained from writing these was to help enable him to avoid similar "false notes" in the Technic timeline, even tho that series originally began as two different sets of stories.
And, even so, Anderson thought it necessary to revise "Margin of Profit" and some of the earlier written Flandry stories so they would fit in better with the Technic history. And, of course, "Sargasso of Lost Space Ships" was difficult to fit in.
Ad astra! Sean
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